Her Last Breath
by Bloodonmyshirt
Summary: Complete. Petunia thought it was funny, how you release the mistakes you’ve made, more then ever, when you were dying. IN THE PROCESS OF BEING REWRITTEN.
1. Chapter 1

**Her Last Breath**

Petunia Dursley, old and grey at the age of 85, watched the heart monitor beside her bed, beeping to the rhythm of her heart. _Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep._ She looked up at the white ceiling, and cuddled deeper into the thin hospital blanket.

Her husband, Vernon Dursley, had died three year previous, at the age of 79. Petunia knew her time was drawing nearer with every breath she exhaled. _Does god measure life by the breaths you take, or by the mistakes you make in life?_

'If god did measure life by the mistakes people made, then I should've died years ago,' thought Petunia. Her eyes turned to the heart monitor, they unfocused as an old memory played back into her head.

_Humming to herself, Petunia finished icing a cake, putting a few finishing touches here and there. She looked at the chocolate cake, making sure it was perfect, then took a small tube filled with blue icing, and wrote, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY DUDLEY" on it. Blue was, after all, his favorite color._

_Not that her plump boy would notice. 'No,' she thought, 'he'll be to busy stuffing it into his face." Petunia placed the cake delicately into the fridge. She turned around to face a 5 year old boy, one which had jet black hair, and striking green eyes._

_Harry Potter rubbed his eyes sleepily, and looked up at his aunt. "Harry, what do you think you are doing?" Petunia pursed her lips._

"_I'm thirsty Aunt P," Harry whispered, in his little boyish voice._

"_What did Uncle_ _Vernon say about getting up in the middle of the night?"_

_Harry pouted. "Not to get up, and to stay in my room under the stairs,_ _no exceptions_." _The boy recited it, as if out of a book._

"_That's right." Petunia felt pity for the boy anyway, and it was Christmas eve after all._ _She reached over the sink and placed a glass on the counter. She left the kitchen, and stopped by the stairs. "Don't forget to wash the glass." Her voice was hard, and cold. Full of hate._

Her biggest mistake was Harry Potter. Not raising him like she would her own son. Not loving him like she did Dudley.

The guilt haunted her for years, and would still after she died. She would give anything to see that boy again. She would give her last breath to say she was sorry.

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AN: The chapters are going to be short, usually a page, a page and a half. Depends on what I feel like writing. Its going to be a short story. Please review. 


	2. Chapter 2

Dudley Dursley came to visit her the next morning. He was married now, in his early sixties. He had two children of his own, both fat and chunky, like him and his wife. It didn't matter how many times Petunia told him he'll have problems from being obese, he still gained at least two more pounds a month.

Dudley never went to see his mother, his wife was prude and arrogant, didn't like Petunia much. Either way, Dudley was still her little boy, and he had made a few visits since she landed herself in the hospital. Today was different though, something seemed wrong.

Her son sat in the chair, stared at her with sad eyes, and held her hand in his, "I talked to the doctors today mom, asked them how you were doing and all. They said it didn't look good- told me you had about a week left. Maybe two."

Petunia looked at her son, and squeezed his hand. She broke eye contact with him, and looked up at the ceiling. She didn't want to go, not just yet- she had things she wanted to do. But only a week to live? She looked at her son, and breathed deeply, "Can I see the grand kids again? One last time Dudley, please?"

He nodded, "I have to go, I'll bring them around in a few days." He kissed his mother on the forehead, and whispered goodbye.

Petunia was all alone, again. Like so many times before. Alone at home during the day when Dudley was at pre-school, when Vernon was at work. She seemed alone, but was she really?

_The vacuum was loud, as the floor bush was pushed back and forth, sucking away the dirt. Turning the Vacuum off, she sat down in a chair. Wishing she had a cold glass of water. These were the times she hated being a house wife._

_She felt so lonely with put someone with her in the house. Vernon was out working, and Dudley was at pre-school. Breathing hard, she got up and went to place the vacuum back into it proper place. Still wishing for some company._

_Petunia put the vacuum away and went into the kitchen to make some lunch. She was faced with a horrible mess. Harry Potter stood there, covered in flower. "I only wanted to help Aunt P." His voice was shaky._

_Petunia was outraged. She had just spent hours cleaning the house, and now she had to spend another two hours re-cleaning the kitchen. "HARRY. LOOK AT THE MESS YOU HAVE MADE. GO. TO. YOUR. ROOM." Her voice echoed off the walls of the house. _

_Harry Potter ran away, crying._

Petunia's old body sighed. She spent countless feeling sorry for herself, but there it was, the solution. After all these years she was just figuring it out. Life could've been so much better, for her and the boy.

Petunia thought it was funny, how you release the mistakes you've made, more then ever, when you were dying.

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AN: Its has been brought to my attention that I had a math/age error, thaks to riegert8 for pointing itout.I fixed it, hopefully everything fits into place. Again, I may re-write this chapter, who knows. Review please : ) 


	3. Chapter 3

A week later- where was Dudley and his kids? _Probably on vacation,_ thought Petunia. She never raised her son properly- she knew it too. But why didn't she raise him right? Did her husband really have that much control over her and her life?

Her glazey eyes staired up at the ceiling as they had done so many times before, closing them slowly, she let the dark come over, and the dreams play into her head.

_Night fell over Private Drive, the stars twinkling softly overhead. Birds chirping one last song before the sun completely vanished._ _Vernon Dursley shut the bedroom window as an owl gave a hoot from far off, grumbling, he crawled into bed, beside his wife._

_Distracted from her book Petunia gave her husband a weary look. "I saw what you did for the boy today Petunia."_

"_So?" She argued back._

"_So? Don't tell me SO! I don't ever want you too help the boy again!" He spoke quiet, but the malice was not hidden._

"_I don't see what's so wrong about him Vernon, he's just a boy."_

"_He's trash, like your sister and her husband. I told you when you brought him into this house, you will raise him as I see fit."_

_Petunia glared at Vernon, "I wasn't going to let some boy die when WE could have SAVED him! Your heartless."_

"_I may be heartless, _dear_, but I have logic, I know what is right for this family, and he isn't!"_

_Petunia never said anything- instead she turned off her bed side lamp. With her back facing Vernon, she went to sleep._

She awoke hours after, having nothing but restless nightmares. Her ever drifted to the ceiling again, but instead being blinded from the bright white, emerald green eyes stared back at her. Worry clearly printed on them.

Stuttering, she managed to say the boys name. Harry nodded in response, and squeezed her hand.

"Yes, aunt Petunia, I'm here- it's Harry."

Petunia's eyes focused, and unfocused on her nephew's face, "Oh Harry, I have so much to say to you." Her voice was clear- but it was weak, "Please stay Harry, Please?"

Harry nodded once again, "I'll stay Aunt P- as long as you want me too."

Holding Harry's hand in her own, she drifted off into a dreamless and pleasant slumber.

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A/N: Thank you to all the reveiwers- if I could magicly send you cookies I would. This chapters shorter then the rest I think, and I believe theres going to be one more, then it's finished. Read and Review please, I love feedback. :)


	4. Chapter 4

Harry Potter held onto his Aunts hand for more then three hours, not once letting go. He'd be here when she woke- he'd hear what she had to say. Did he not owe at least that much? _She was the reason I lived in that place._

He remembered once being kicked out, but his Aunt refused to see none of it. She was the reason he was even aloud to _breath _in that house. The house that held so many nightmares- the house that had offered so much protection.

Harry Potter had defeated Voldermort, only after he had lost so much. He did for those who died during war that he loved, those innocent souls who were tortured, raped and killed. He did it to save his home, and the rest of the world. Wether he did knowingly, or subconsciously, he also did it for the people he once spent his summers with. Those who taught him the world was cruel- before he would come to face it in adulthood.

Harry felt the hand he was hold squeezed his, and he looked down at his Aunt. She was awake, she looked old, frail, like any other person on her death bed. Yet she had the strength to smile at him.

"I'm sorry Harry, I really am."

Harry accepted the apology, "I'm sure you did what you could."

_But I've could've done more, _thought Petunia, _much more._ She gave him a nod of thanks.

"I ran into Dudley at the airport, I had just come home from America. He took his kids, and his wife, to Hawaii. Still cold hearted as ever."

Petunia agreed, her son was cold, "He came by two weeks ago, promised to bring the childern. I didn't think he would. Sounded like he was saying good-bye."

Harry frowned in disturbance, "I'm sure he'll come around, Aunt Petunia."

"He won't Harry, he won't have enough time. My time is over here- I've known it for ages. I'm leaving soon, and I don't think I'll have another chance to scold that boy. I know it's late, Harry, but stay with me? Just for anther hour."

Harry nodded, and squeezed his Aunt's hand.

Petunia smiled once more at the son she wish she had. She looked at him, smiled at him, and squeezed his hand one last time. "Good-bye Harry," she whispered.

Harry did not need to stay one more hour with his Aunt, for at the moment Petunia Dursley had finally found peace.

Petunia had finally walked into the warm light that had beckoned her for so long.

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Guess what? Yes! It is finally finished! Thank you to all of the reviewers, and all the people who took the time to read. Please review though? Thanks!

I'm seriously thinking about re-writting the ending, but for now, this is it.


	5. Chapter 5

**Epilogue**

He watched as the zipped up his aunt in a black bag, time seemed to stand still as he stood there watching the doctors. They zipped her up and then wheeled her out into the hospital hall. She was now on her was to the morgue, where they would get her ready for her funeral.

It was funny, really. He hated his aunt for all these years, and suddenly the feeling of remorse flooded threw his veins.

Harry knew what he had to do. He walked out of his aunts hospital room, and down the hall in a daze. He needed to call his cousin and tell him the unfortunate news- and then plan the funeral.

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Harry looked down into the casket at his aunt's pale face, his wife was behind him. He was surprised that his cousin had not showed up. It only proved how much alike he was with his father.

He nodded his head in shame as he thought of his cousin, you'd think he would at least come to pay his last respects to his own mother before she was to be buried. In some way though- it didn't really surprise Harry that Dudley never showed up, he never really did respect his mother.

Harry looked back on his childhood for a moment, and it seemed to him that there was something in his aunts eyes, something he should have seen before. It wasn't hate, or rage. It was guilt. Maybe guilt, that she never got to love her sister the way she wanted to?

There were some things that she did, to make life easier on him. That was undeniable. Harry was sure if it wasn't for his aunt, he would have been in an orphanage.

One last look, that's all he allowed himself. One last look of the woman who had potentially saved his life. He turned around to face his wife, and beckoned her out of the funeral parlor.

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Extra chapter. Every story needs an epilogue. Enjoy 


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